Genesis Vagabond – anyone got one?

Sorry stato, got all mixed up 😳 that post was aimed at addy6402. Just for your info on first few trips out the vagabond rides lovely, mtb comfort with more nimble handling. My build: 29er wheels, alfine 8 on the back with alfine sporthub on the front (dynamo). Nitto noodle bars, jtek shifter. Sturmey archer crank with fsa 36t chainring, fsa orbit headset(cos its green), clark quad brakes(cos they were cheap), big apple 2.35 tyres. Going to add a brooks b17 saddle for a bit more comfort when funds (and missus) allows.

Third genesis bike, lovely frames and great styling, highly recommended.

Cheers moorsey72 – liking yours too, something a bit different with a classic look.

Nice, I wasn’t keen on the idea of purple but it looks pretty good in the pics being posted. Ive gone for a blue full build as I found one on offer that I could get through c2w. Shouldve been built by now but not heard from the shop yet, hopefully next week. Will be taking the bar end shifters off if anyone is interested in them, I like them but wont suit the intended use.

Hi, First time poster here & I’ve been keeping tabs on this thread for a while. I have just finished building my Vagabond & hope to tour on it next year..Just got back from my first ride and must say how impressed I am with the handling and the positioning on the Vagabond.. I plumped for a small frame in purple and have come across a couple of issues, one being toe overlap and being unable to fit a rear mudguard, due to my 2.2 conti’s being only a few mm’s from touching the tyre..I have put some 40c Marathon Mondials on & have been able to fit the mudguard to the rear. I need to figure out how to attach a photo & will try to later, when I get home on the PC.. Glad I went for just a frame, then I could spec what I wanted.. Halo Vapour rims, laced to XT hubs ( the strong ones ) with 14mm plain gauge DT spokes.. My friend built them for me and he said they’re good strong wheels. The rest of the spec is – midge bars,Thompson X4 stem,dura ace 9 speed shifters, TRP brake levers, TRP Spyres, Thompson seatpost, flite gel saddle, Deore tripple chainset, XT front mech, Deore Shadow rear mech,SKS touring pedals with restraps fitted.. I have also got myself a Ortlieb bike packing saddle pack and a Alpkit Kanga for the front..I may also get a frame bag, but not sure yet..Still debating if I whould put some Tubus panniers on and use my Carradice bags.. Eventually I would like to try bike packing, but will need to get a smaller tent, lighter sleeping bag and a smaller sleep mat.. Dont think my better half will be pleased though after how much I’ve spent on the Vagabond build..lol

Regards..

Smuggers

so can it fit big apples 2,35??

on what rims did you managed to?

on my Fargo I fit them on a 21mm rim it was a pain in the ass, I’m so worried to get a flat I wouldn’t be able to fix it on the track

Hi guys. I also have a vagabong just wondering if anybody had any advise on chainsets I wanted to run a double with ideally at least a 42 on for more top end speed any recommendations as road chainsets don’t fit due to the 73mm Bob shell.

STATO – yhm

ciquta – I’ve got approx. 1cm clearance from a 2.0 big apple on Arch EX to my XT front mech – I imagine a 2.35 would be pretty close! They are blooming tight to get on the rims…

Ciquita, i have 2.35 big apples on my build(pic attached on previous post). Run fine although i have an alfine fitted so no front mech to worry about getting in the way. Corners like a motorbike but considering something thinner for touring as they do tend to soak up any power you put through the pedals. Look cool though 😀

I just toured from Italy to the Netherlands on a pair of 2.35 big apples… very happy about how they roll, only downside is they push the BB too up, I can’t put a foot on the ground while keeping my ass on the saddle…

BTW: the new Vagabond 2017 is unveiled!

Not a Vagabond owner, but have a Mk 1 Salsa Fargo, so in a similar vein, once Big Apples that i bought it with wore, i found that Specialized Fast Track have been good tyres, used it for my winter commute of 56 miles to/from work in rural Norfolk with the debris and mud on the road from sugar beet trucks and they stood up really well.

I was all excited to get a Vagabond Frameset from 2017 since I came too late to get the 2016 one… then they come out with this disgusting black on white :(((

very disappointing

Same here ciquta =(.

I’ll try to get a purple FS in Large and build it up with a longer stem for the Jones H Bar Loop. I’ll report for those who were curious about other Bar options but it’ll take some time cause it’s of course N+1…

Currently £750 for the 2016 full bike in large from the Edinburgh Bike Co-op. Seems like a proper bargain!

How would the bike be with another set of wheels set up with wideish road tyres? I’m thinking it could replace my CX bike and road bike, and do for a lot of off-road duties too!

Need to make my mind up as the sale allegedly finishes tomorrow.

Not tried thinner tyres on mine as yet put not sure the geometry would lend itself as a replacement for a full on road bike. it is a more relaxed ‘cruising style’ so although it will make a very capable bike on the road its just worth taking that into account when deciding how you are most likely to use it. Its a lovely looking bike though and i agree with the others that the new season colours arent a patch on the blue or purple colour schemes of the orignial model, so go for it before they are sold out!!! (im probably not the best person to listen to on the subject mind as my vagabond was the 3rd genesis to grace my garage and now im drooling over the new volare 931…..please make it stop!!)

Ordered 🙂

I also ordered a pair of disc 700c wheels from Planet X (£55 in their sale!) to put on some less knobbly tyres.
I’m not after a road bike as such, just something comfy for doing some road miles occasionally.

Hopefully this fills the final niche in the garage…..we’ll see!

I picked up a XL blue vagabond from EBC, as my work does cyclescheme through them.

Smaller tyres would be fine for BB height as its got the same drop as the CDF. Just obviously need to be aware of the difference when cornering if used to the larger tyres.

@Stato: may I ask how tall are you? I’m considering frameset in Large but being 6’2,5″ish I’m not sure if that wouldn’t be too small. I’m happy with Charge Plug in XL, I’ve had mk1 DayOne in 58cm…

Any L/XL Vagabond owners around Brum, please?

kazafaza – I ride a large vagabond build (see above) and commute from Lickey to the Axis building, next door to the Mailbox on Mon-Thurs. Drop me an email if you’d like to see the bike.

hehe I just grabbed what seemed like the last XL 2016 full bike in the country. Hopefully it’s not all scratched to pieces 😆
Preferred the deore bb and crankset over samox(?) you get on the 2017 but I also really liked the new (black) colour so was a hard choice but you gotta love a sale!

My 1st drop bar so very very excited

I am currently awaiting mine. I’ve even sold a couple of frames in anticipation (and to free up a bit of space!)

The kit on the 2016 seems a bit better then the 2017 – allegedly 12.2kg as opposed to 12.9kg for the new one – so the Samox crankset and BB is obviously a fair bit heavier.

I really should have a bit of a clear out too, if you believe the hype I wont be riding my other bikes much now anyway 😉

https://flic.kr/p/MiMWVG
Cables and saddle changed. Looks much better now.

Mine’s arrived 🙂 assembled but not ridden yet. Turns out that you can just got a 29+ front tyre in the fork. So another option for rougher trails.

Exciting times Ajantom, let us know how you find her on the maiden voyage. Lovely bikes

Comfy, comfy, comfy!

Did 50km on it yesterday as it’s shakedown ride….mixing up road, green lanes, bridleways, singletrack, and even a downhill track. 2500ft of climbing and averaged about 10mph.

Rolls along nicely on the stock WTB tyres, though they did struggle on some loose, gravelly uphills. I got the narrow tyres stuck once or twice – I’m used to a 29+ which tends to not do that!

I took the stem down 10mm, and I might do another 5mm as the front end still feels a little high. Seat is comfy, and I have a carbon USE post that I might try to take a bit more trail buzz off the rear end.

Not convinced by the bars – I prefer something with a fair bit more flair. I have a set of Woodchippers, but they’ll need shimming to fit the stem, and can I be arsed to re-do all the bar tape and shifters?#

Just waiting on some 160mm discs for the other set of wheels with 28c tyres on, and we’ll see how it feels on a road loop 🙂

Firstly, hello! I’ve just joined Singletrack today specifically (well, mostly) because of this thread. I wandered into LBS yesterday with ideas of a Croix de Fer in mind, and saw the Vagabond and a Trek 920 on display. I was immediately struck by both of them. I’m looking for something for touring, primarily on road but also allowing me to strike off at random along bridleways and so on, just because they’re there – that’s what I like doing! I am not by any stretch of the imagination a mountain biker nor do I have any intention of taking up “proper” mountain biking. Sorry!

So, touring, which for me means rack and panniers – that’s what I have and am used to – with off-road capability but mostly on road. Also day rides, I might use it for audaxes and I dare say shopping, commuting, etc. At the moment my “tourer” is a hardtail 26″ mountain bike with racks, mudguards, which I use mostly with the suspension fork locked out, and road(-ish) tyres. That also does transport duties. And a “classic style” (but modern) steel road bike for audaxes and club rides.

I’m wondering whether this (Vagabond) might actually be too much off-roady for my needs. Then again, the Croix de Fer – or a Cross Check (the version with discs) or Spec AWOL or even something more classically tourer like a Kona Sutra – might overlap with what I already have more than is sensible.

The bar end shifters definitely don’t appeal though. I find STIs way convenient!

Sorry for such a rambling post – I appreciate it’s more musing than hard questions – but thanks for your thoughts.

So I thought it was about time I reviewed my Vagabond.

So I was very lucky to receive the first Vagabond frame released. Needless to say, I have been riding it for a good while now. I currently own a CX, road, hardtail, enduro and most recently the Genesis Vagabond bike.
People are always seeking ‘the holy grail -do it all’ of bicycles. I’ve never considered that a possibility, but damn the Vagabond is the closest thing to that I’ve ever owned! I initially played around with skinny cx tyres when building, but found BB height and ride comfort felt best when wearing 29er rubber.
She’s been an ongoing project, I still have a number of things I’d like to upgrade, but hell, we all own bicycles here, that pain is shared!
Here’s how it’s currently set up:

Hubs: Hope proEVO4, 9mm front, 10mm rear conversions
Rims: Stans Grail
Tyres: Halo Twin Rail 2 SLR 29″ Skinwall
Headset: Cane Creek
Handlebars: Giant Connect flared
Stem: Thomson Elite 75mm
Saddle: Brooks Cambium C15 (Got this super cheap. Maybe B17 soon?)
Bartape: Brooks Cambium
Seatpost: Norco, (Thomson Elite upgrade soon)
Chainset: Middleburn RS7 42/29
Cassette: Sram 10spd 11/28
Rear Deralleur: Shimano Deore 9sp Shadow
Front Deralleur: Shimano XT
Brakeset: Avid BB7
Rotors: 160 Avids (will upgrade)
Thru Axles: 9mm front and 10mm rear QR thru axles Superstar components – BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT TO RIDE QUALITY! THIS IS A MUST!
Shifters: 105 5700 Right hand, Ultegra left
Pedals: DMR Flats for leisure/cruising or XTR clips for everything else
Rack: Surly front rack
Bags: Restrap Carryeverything Large frame bag & Saddlebag Holster. Poler mega camera cooler front bag, also used with front panniers.
Bell: Crane Sakura Brass Stem bell

It was built up as my bikepacking rig, but became so much more! She’s been a trusty steed on many mixed road/off road tours and over night excursions. It’s hard to express how much I’ve grown to love this bike! For me, the tailored mix of components and versatility this bike offers often leads me to pick up the Vagabond over any other bike I own – from singletrack to commuting, it’s been so much fun to ride.
Here’s a couple more pictures for you:

Can 105 be fitted to a vagabond or does it need to be mountain bike gears?

“Quirrel -Can 105 be fitted to a vagabond or does it need to be mountain bike gears?”

– The 105 groupset would work except for the inner chainring as you’ll be kissing the chainstays.

^ Is that a double or triple?

Double

what crank?

Blmblbzzz- i have both the croix de fer and vagabond. Im sure either will do the job very well, ive found the croix de fer to be very comfortable on 100+ mile rides, i have it set up with 105 and 28c gp4season tyres so more for comfy road rides. The vagabond is lovely, bit more of a bruiser with off road bias, currently set up with alfine 8 and big apple 2.35 tyres which makes it a little more heavy going on the legs but not enough to hinder the smile factor in any way and is great for tanking along bridleways. Both are versatile, comfortable and lovely looking bikes.

Komainu – lovely job of speccing the bike there. Just put a b17 on mine, lovely already so cant wait for it to break in a little. How do you find that surly rack? Does it effect the ride?

fourbanger – It’s a Middleburn rs7 square taper crank, I’ve considered putting on a 1x narrowide setup, but not sure I want to lose the range the 42/29 gives me.

bmblbzzz – It sounds like you need to test ride both the CDF and Vagabond to see what suits you best. moorsey72 makes a good comparison – do consider that you may find the CDF’s Reynolds 725 option frame more compliant for racked up road riding. I’m loving the feel of the Mjölnir cromoly used to build the Vagabond, super comfortable. It definitely has more flex than 725 though!

moorsey72 – Thanks! It’s been a labour of love. I think a B17 select model (it’ll tie in nicely hey?!) is a must! Married to a Thomson post will fulfill most of my desires. Here’s hoping anyway.
The surly rack is monstrous in size but in all honesty is no hassle to ride with at all. I’m riding with quite a short stem, (75mm) so the racks weight sits nicely over the front axle and it just feels planted! The biggest difference in feel is in how you load the rack – keep the weight low and static and it’s barely noticeable!

@Addy6402: YHM, thanks!

@Komainu: beatiful build, really like the tan-walled tyres and Cambium combo!

Keep ’em coming please!

A little off subject here but can someone please tell me how to add a picture to a post, i can only seem add a link to flickr to show off my much cherished steeds 🙄

moorsey72 – The forum help page has instuctions on how to embed an image: http://singletrackworld.com/forum-help 🙂

I’ve considered putting on a 1x narrowide setup, but not sure I want to lose the range the 42/29 gives me.

Chainset: Middleburn RS7 42/29
Cassette: Sram 10spd 11/28

I run Sram 1×11 on my do it all bike:
42 chainring
10-42 cassette

That gives me more range – a slightly lower climbing gear and higher “top gear” than you get.

You could run a sunrace 11-42 cassette and get more range than you do with a double on that setup. But you will need to bodge the rear mech. A 9spd MTB mech with a road link might work (and operates on the same cable pull as your shifters). Or 10spd mtb mech with tanpan / rad cage. Or you could just get a sram mech and shifter.

Or just leave it as it is and it looks great!

wzzzz – Thanks for your thoughts. You’ve highlighted a lot of what I’ve considered doing. I couldn’t quite budget in the Sram 1×11 when building up the Vagabond, your set up sounds pretty ideal! I currently run a 42tooth narrowide on my CX bike. Totally love it for the what that bike does!